This invention relates to cable assemblies and more particularly to cable assemblies of the Bowden type including an outer conduit and a central core element in the form of a wire.
In a typical automotive cable assembly usage, the core element is attached at one end to a remote member, for example a transmission control lever, and is connected at the opposite end to an actuator member, such as a vehicle shift lever. The connection is such that movement of the actuation member is transmitted through the core element and results in corresponding actuation or movement of the remote member.
It is critical that the relative position of the actuation member and the remote member be maintained, i.e. if the shift lever is placed in neutral, it is imperative that the vehicle transmission also be placed in neutral. During installation of a cable assembly, proper positioning of the respective parts is obtained by adjusting the overall length of the cable. This may be accomplished either by adjusting the overall length of the core element or by adjusting the overall length of the conduit which in effect adjusts the length of the core element.
Typically an automotive transmission control cable assembly is formulated as two cable sub-assemblies with the core element of one of the cable assemblies attached to the vehicle shift lever, the core element of the other cable assembly attached to the transmission control arm, and end fittings at the free ends of core assemblies coupled together to complete the operative connection between the shift lever and the transmission control arm. Whereas this two piece cable sub-assembly arrangement is generally satisfactory, complicated manipulation of the end fittings is required during the coupling process to adjust the overall length of the cable assembly for satisfactory operation of the cable assembly and disassembly of the cable assembly for maintenance, repair or adjustment is extremely difficult and time consuming.